Christa Pike's Family Expressed Excitement After Botched Execution, Aunt Says

Christa Pike, a death row inmate in Tennessee, survived a botched execution on September 30 after prison officials were unable to administer a lethal injection. According to Pike's aunt, Carrie Ross, the family experienced an "excited" reaction to the failed execution, believing it meant Pike would survive.

Pike, 50, was scheduled to become the first woman executed in Tennessee in over two centuries. The execution was halted after two attempts at lethal injection, and Pike was subsequently transported to a hospital. Ross told the Daily Mail that the family's reaction was one of relief and surprise, stating, "When they said she’s still breathing, we got excited thinking that she was going to make it."

Ross added that Pike was prepared for her execution and had accepted the outcome. "She didn’t want the stay," Ross said. "She was ready to go. She was at peace. She had accepted that whatever happened was not in her control. It was in God’s control."

Pike was convicted in 1996 for the torture and murder of her 19-year-old Job Corps classmate, Colleen Slemmer. She was 18 years old at the time of the crime. Pike's execution had been scheduled for 10 a.m. on September 30, but a stay was granted by the Court of Appeals an hour prior. The U.S. Supreme Court later lifted the stay in the evening, allowing the execution to proceed, but it was ultimately interrupted.

Pike is reportedly awake and mobile following the incident and is aware of what happened. Her lawyer has indicated she remembers the events and is expressing anger.